Support Abousfian Abdelrazik: Call in to Sanctions-Busting Telethon, April 28, 7-9 pm EDT

Friends

Many people recall the long, six-year struggle for Abousfian Abdelrazik to come home after being detained, interrogated, and tortured by Sudanese authorities. Canada's complicity in the torture of one of its own citizens is a national scandal, and while grass roots action worked to bring Mr. Abdelrazik home after the Canadian government refused to repatriate him, he now lives in a prison without walls, since he remains on the UN's infamous 1267 list, preventing him from having access to his assets, having a job, and obtaining assistance of any kind.

Once again, people across Canada have an opportunity to defy the "legal" mechanism by which Mr. Abdelrazik's most basic rights as a human being are being denied. Please join the telethon described below, and call in to pledge your financial support for Mr. Abdelrazik.

Thanks!

The folks at Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture

"Under federal law, anyone who contributes money to Abousfian Abdelrazik risks prosecution. Canadian regulations state that no Canadian shall "provide or collect by any means, directly or indirectly, funds with the intention that the funds be used" by someone on the 1267 list."

Sanctions-busting Telethon
in solidarity with Abousfian Abdelrazik and against oppressive "national security" logic.

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

From anywhere, between 7pm and 9pm EDT:
Call toll free 1 877 737 4070
Tune in to live-broadcast on Rabble TV, www.rabble.ca

In Montreal:
Free dinner from 6pm; Telethon begins at 7pm
Georges Vanier Cultural Centre, 2450 Workman St. (metro Lionel Groulx)
Wheelchair accessible. Free childcare on site.
ALSO, tune in to Amandla on CKUT 90.3 FM for live reports.

Project Fly Home is organizing the first ever "Sanctions-busting Telethon" on April 28th to call people to donate to Abousfian Abdelrazik in open defiance of the United Nations 1267 regime, challenging the fear, racism and isolation it creates and feeds on. The evening will include a free spaghetti dinner and a host of poets, musicians, performers, and speakers, including Hasan Abdulhai, Kader B, Al and Jess Blair, Ehab Lotayef, Norman Nawrocki and Jou Jou Turenne !

Two years ago, on April 28th, 2008, Abousfian Abdelrazik went public with his story of detention, torture and exile and claimed refuge in the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum. He lived in the Embassy for fourteen months, unable to leave the grounds, until the Canadian government was forced to bring him back to Montreal in June 2009. Now he is home, but still not free. Background on Abelrazik's story.

In 2006, without his knowledge, Abdelrazik’s name was placed on the United Nations “1267 list”. The 1267 regime imposes financial sanctions that prevent Abdelrazik from earning a salary, receiving any money, or maintaining a bank account. This makes rebuilding his life impossible. It's like "living in a prison without walls" – indefinitely, without charge or trial. There is little recourse. As the Federal Court of Canada wrote, "There is nothing in the listing or de-listing procedure [of the 1267 regime] that recognizes the principles of natural justice or that provides for basic procedural fairness." (Justice Russel Zinn, 4 June 2009). Background on the 1267 regime.

Despite its official position that Mr. Abdelrazik should be removed from the 1267 list, the Canadian government has made no serious attempt to have him delisted. Nor has it made any move to lift sanctions from Mr. Abdelrazik in Canada, although it is within its power to do so immediately.

Under federal law, anyone who contributes money to Mr. Abdelrazik risks prosecution. Canadian regulations state that no Canadian shall "provide or collect by any means, directly or indirectly, funds with the intention that the funds be used" by someone on the 1267 list.

We did it before! In early 2009, a group stretching from Vancouver to Halifax, including people from all walks of life, banded together to buy Abdelrazik a plane ticket home for April 3rd, despite federal government insistence that financially supporting Mr. Abdelrazik could violate the law (see complete list). This powerful act of solidarity reflected a groundswell of support for Mr. Abdelrazik as well as growing outrage at the government's abusive treatment of him.

We are calling on you to do it again! Restate your solidarity or join the long list of people who have defied the 1267 regime by contributing money to Mr. Abdelrazik as an act of solidarity.

On April 28th, between 7pm and 9pm, come out to the Telethon in Montreal or call 1 877 737 4070 to make a donation to Abousfian Abdelrazik. Tune in to watch the telethon live-broadcast on www.rabble.ca or listen to Amandla on CKUT 90.3 FM for live reports.

Your donations will help challenge the oppressive "national security" logic which endangers all of us.

Build the pressure! Break the sanctions!
Sponsored by:
CKUT 90.3 FM
Rabble.ca

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Project Fly Home
projectflyhome@gmail.com
www.peoplescommission.org/en/abdelrazik

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This telethon is part of a six-month campaign launched by Project Fly Home leading up to the first anniversary of Abdelrazik's return to Canada. The six-month campaign demands that Canada: immediately free Abdelrazik from the 1267 sanctions; put pressure on members of the 1267 committee to delist Abdelrazik; and pull out of the 1267 regime. For more information, to download postcards and flyers, or to get involved:
www.peoplescommission.org/en/abdelrazik.

Project Fly Home - People's Commission Network
projectflyhome@gmail.com
www.peoplescommission.org/en/abdelrazik

To add your organization to the list of groups endorsing Project Fly Home's
six demands, please read the sign-on statement
www.peoplescommission.org/files/abousfianMedia/ProjectFlyHomeSignOn.pdf
and email your organization's name in English and French to
projectflyhome@gmail.com

"A revolution is interesting insofar as it avoids like the plague the plague it promised to heal." Daniel Berrigan